Month: November 2010

Both the submissions on this job announcement board, as well as available social media positions at corporations continue to pour in. In this continued digest of job changes, I like to salute those that continue to join the industry in roles focused on social media, see the archives, which I’ve been tracking since Q4, 2007. People on the Move in the Social Business Industry Stephanie Agresta joins Weber Shandwick as EVP, Managing Director of Social Media. I’ve known Stephanie for years, in many ways, we’re in the same ‘class’ and it’s great to see her rise to this executive role, congrats. Brian Oberkirch, who I’ve known for years joins Wieden & Kennedy as Sr. Digital Strategist Web and mobile strategy … Continue readingPeople on the Move in the Social Business Industry: Nov 22, 2010

Last week, I closed off WOMMA 2010 as the closing keynote, and presented Altimeter’s recent research on the Career Path of the Corporate Social Strategist (read the report) to a few hundred folks. In the closing recommendations on slide 58, you’ll find six very specific recommendations on how to stay out of the ‘Social Media Help Desk’, and how to ensure you’ll stay proactive (like the 59% who are) and increase your changes to reach ‘Escape Velocity’. In the sprit of Open Research, the slides are embedded below, which you are free to download, use, and share, as long as you kindly attribute to Altimeter Group, the more you advocate us, the easier it makes it for us to produce … Continue readingSlides: Career Path of the Corporate Social Strategist (Keynote)

The full 27-page report is embedded below, if you can’t see it, please click directly to this blog post to access it. This Social Media Decision Maker Must Choose One of Two Career Paths. This emerging role is critical to the success of social media programs yet, most Social Strategists and their programs lack maturity, with only 23% of Social Strategists having a formalized program with long-term direction. They are overwhelmed with six major challenges – with little relief in sight: Resistance from internal culture, Measuring ROI, Lack of resources, An ever-changing technology space, Resentment and envy of the role, and A looming increase in business demands. With demands just about to increase, they have two possible career paths: 1) … Continue readingAltimeter Report: The Two Career Paths of the Corporate Social Strategist. Be Proactive or Become ‘Social Media Help Desk’

Altimeter Group is going to release a research paper on the Career Path of the Corporate Social Strategist, and this is subset data, sign up here to receive the upcoming report. These corporate social strategists (which I’ve segmented as companies with over 1000 employees) responded to find out how they are preparing their companies for social media. Understand the Five Models First, read these Five Ways how Companies Organize for Social Media, which many corporations are using as a model. To Respond to a Corporate Wide Culture Shift, Most Form “Hub and Spoke” model. Most companies are currently formed in the hub and spoke formation in order to respond to the corporate wide impacts that social media brings. Secondly, … Continue readingResearch: Most Companies Organize in “Hub and Spoke” Formation for Social Business

Part 1: External Goals Part 2: Internal Goals (You are here) This is part 2/2, yesterday, I released research discussing the priorities companies have for external also known as ‘go to market’. To balance out the data, Altimeter Group has posed similar questions to Corporate Social Strategists to find out their internal ambitions inside their company. This is a subset of a larger Altimeter report, sign up here to receive the upcoming report. These corporate social strategists (which I’ve segmented as companies with over 1000 employees) the respondents were asked to select three top internal objectives. We found that they will focus on the following: Facing Internal Resistance, Corporate Social Strategists Seek to Measure, then Shift Culture Confused by Disparate … Continue readingAnalysis: 2011 Internal Goals In Corporate Social Strategy: Proving Value and Change Management (2/2)

Part 1: External Goals (You are here) Part 2: Internal Goals The Corporate Social Strategist Must Plan for 2011 In the near future, I’ll be publishing a research report about the corporate social strategist and their program. In our survey these decision makers within corporations over social media programs, we asked about their goals for 2011. If you want to receive this upcoming report, I will send it to you directly,just complete this form. These corporate social strategists (which I’ve segmented as companies with over 1000 employees) the respondents were asked to select three top objectives. We found that they will focus on the following: Analysis: Expect Companies to Aggregate Discussions, Struggle with Authentic Discussions and Be Frustrated with Listening … Continue readingAnalysis: 2011 Corporate Social Strategy Will Focus on Corporate Website Integration (Part 1/2)

Below is an embedded powerpoint. If you can’t see it (perhaps from email) please see the blog post to access the presentation. Last night, I was invited to to present my research findings to the VC community on Sand Hill road at National Venture Capital Association presented a forecast of where the Enterprise Social Business space was headed in 2011. Below, you’ll find a reduced version of my slides and most of the salient points. I’ve removed much of the spending data in 2010 and 2011 as I have a formal research report coming out in the near future which will publish on this blog. Industry Reference: Social Business Stack for 2011 View more presentations from Jeremiah Owyang. The social … Continue readingIndustry Reference: The Social Business Stack for 2011 (Slideshare)

I’m frequently asked “What’s the top challenge the corporate social strategist is struggling” and over and over, ROI comes up very high. To tackle this challenge head on, Altimeter has conducted a research project to find out how companies are connecting social technologies to the overall buying process as well as analyzing how they increase revenues for brands. In conjunction with our recent conference on Social Commerce, we’ve now published the findings from interviewing top social commerce vendors and brands that are connecting commerce with social media. Our lead researcher analyst on this project is Lora Cecere who stems from Gartner and AMR and stems from Supply Chain Management, her and I will be doing a no-cost webinar to discuss … Continue readingAltimeter Report: Social Commerce, How Brands Are Generating Revenue in Social Media, by @lcecere

Most Companies Lack a Positioning Strategy Companies must be deliberate in their positioning efforts –rather than rely on the same way that’s been done in the past. Frequently, I meet with young technology startups that focus purely on the technology and features –and completely miss what problem they are solving. Similarly, I meet with large brands that are positoning at the brand and product level –yet forget to connect with their customers in their existing lifestyle. I’ve used this framework in a variety of client engagements, and want to release the high level here, for you to use in your positioning strategy. Positioning Matrix: Lifestyle, Pain, Brand, Product, or Features Positioning Level Description When to use Drawbacks Lifestyle An effort … Continue readingPositioning Matrix: Lifestyle, Pain, Brand, Product, or Features